The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers
VaHomeschoolers.org
Your Resource. Your Voice. Your Association.
The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers
VaHomeschoolers.org
Your Resource. Your Voice. Your Association.
Let's talk about learning and traveling on a budget! Grab your kids (or grandkids) if you like, and bring your family closer together by learning side by side. What have you always wanted to learn - and where can you best learn it? Always dreamt of being a clown? Now's your chance! Ever fantasized about digging for dinos? Want to volunteer for a week on the Appalachian Trail - or build a house for the poor? Let your imagination go . . . and don't let your wallet get in your way. Whether you travel cross-country or across town, you can savor your travel more and enrich your life by learning about whatever fascinates you.
Our sons often lead us to homeschooling, with their high energy, hands-on learning styles, adventurous spirits, and differently paced emotional and cognitive development. Find out why homeschooling is so important for boys, and ideas for shaping homeschooling and family life to maximize the benefits for our sons.
Learn how to stay within the law while educating your child at home in Virginia. Explore the ins and outs of annual filing, testing/evaluation, local public school policies, and much more. Discover how recent changes in Virginia homeschooling law affect your family. Find out how to work within the system to change laws and local policies.
With children and pets and projects and co-ops and community activities and homeschooling demands and household management, it is easy sometimes to feel overwhelmed. In the session Taking Care of the Teacher, we will explore how to avoid burnout while juggling all the diverse responsibilities that go along with the very challenging career of homeschooling our children. We will look at expectations, organization, our children's needs, and how we as homeschooling parents can take care of ourselves.
A long-time homeschool mom, writing group leader, and author herself, Connie will discuss her belief that every child has a unique voice and something to say. Also (1) Creative writing as art and craft - and strategies for supporting both aspects, (2) Why creative writing, as frequently taught in schools, turns children off to writing and how to avoid this at home, (3) Encouraging all children, even reluctant writers, to put their thoughts on paper and to turn off the "internal editor" that tells them they can't write, (4) Ways to critique positively, (5) A primer of what makes writing strong, and (6) The basics of starting a homeschool writing group: who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Is your child "chronically gifted" - too smart for his own good, lacking motivation, feeling like she's an outsider, socially awkward or the victim of bullying? Join us for a discussion of issues affecting families homeschooling gifted children who struggle behaviorally, socially and academically. Topics will include managing challenging behavior, making and keeping friends, coping with being `different' or feeling like an outsider, and how self-directed learning strategies can benefit gifted children. Registration is limited to 12.
A discussion of the surprising and rewarding counter-intuitive aspects of homeschooling. When you're clued in about the mysteries of homeschooling, you can make more of your homeschooling methods. If you're having doubts about how and whether this less-than-usual educational practice really works, reassurance is at hand.
You are ready to homeschool...but where do you start? You have questions about notice of intent, how to pick a curriculum, (or should you pick a curriculum!). What about support? Everyone has the same questions: What are the laws and how do I stay within them? How do I make sure my child is doing well? What do I say to well-meaning friends and family members? Come to this informative session where these will be answered and discussed. Sure to be lively and fun!
What are the options available at home to get your teenagers ready for that next step? Discuss what key courses most colleges require and what kinds of extracurricular activities and volunteer service they look for. Discover how the GED can be used for applying for funds for college. Margaret will share information and strategies that will attract the attention of college admission officers.
Don't wait for someone else to organize the enrichment programs for your children. Look beyond the obvious and you'll find countless exciting, educational and often free ways to enhance your homeschooling experience right in your own community. This session will jump-start your imagination and give you a sense of empowerment to chart your own course.
Take part in a discussion with a panel of homeschool dads covering topics ranging from common reservations to ways to be more involved. Dads will learn how to be advocates for homeschooling, how to support mom, and how they can enhance their family's educational experience by bringing in a distinct perspective - that of the Dad. Panelists include Will Shaw, Brian Shay, and Jim Angel.
If your children are adopted, homeschooling offers special benefits, including bonding, consistency, and character-building for kids who had a rough start. Build "adoption studies" into your curriculum by learning about famous people who were adopted. If you are a "wannabe," join us to hear some of the ups and downs these families experience. Judith is an adoptive mother and former foster mother of children with special needs. Registration is limited to 12.
Is your child interested in drawing, music, theater, computers, video games, or building things (Legos)? Have you heard the labels ADD, gifted, dyslexia, Asperger Syndrome, LD or other similar differences associated with your child? Have you heard people make comments about your child, such as they do not live up to their potential, or they are smart but lazy? Does your child resist your teaching methods? Your child may be right-brained and/or a visual-spatial learner. Cindy will discuss characteristics of this learning style and help parents discover their child's path to learning with joy. Come celebrate the gifts of the right-brained learner while understanding why certain subjects may develop "later."
Come and learn from a frugal mom and co-author of Homeschooling on a Shoestring: A Jam-packed Guide and Educational Travel on a Shoestring: Frugal Family Fun and Learning Away from Home how to find or create inexpensive curriculum. Re-ignite the spark in your children's eye (their love of learning isn't dead, just buried!). Research your community for fun, low-cost resources in your community and on the Internet. Create customized volunteer jobs for your child or as a family project. Find compatible homeschool families to share learning, co-op materials, and make learning easier, cheaper, and more fun. Become bilingual whether you know a foreign language or not. Make money while staying home with your kids (and learn along with them!). Learn off-beat ways - from bartering to creative advertising - to find anything you need at a price you can afford.
Homeschooling a teen appears to be a daunting task when compared to the elementary years. We often can't see how we will cope with teaching algebra, calculus, physics, chemistry, etc. to our teens or with that bugaboo, "socialization." Here's your chance to talk with teens who have been and are being successfully homeschooled. Find out how they and their families deal with issues that are particular to the teen years: goal setting, resource discovery, motivation, peer pressure, and others. Teen panelists include Sarah Lapallo, Emily Monteparto, Anthony Rinaldi, Mary Anna Shaw and Emily Wilson.
Who said learning has to be drill-and-kill drudgery? To the contrary, the latest brain research has shown that people of all ages learn faster and better when they are interested, engaged and enjoying themselves. The fact is our brains are hard-wired to learn through play. Now, while schools are stuck with teaching methods that focus on rote memorization and high stakes testing, more and more businesses - even the US military - are recognizing the benefits of a playful approach to learning. This session will focus on how children learn, as well as the new concepts they're exploring and what skills they are mastering when it looks like they're just playing, from early childhood to the Nintendo years.
Single mom Linda Davies will present strategies for successfully homeschooling while being a single parent. The session will start with a 10-minute overview and then will be open for an interactive discussion - so come ready with your questions. Registration is limited to 12.
Often this question is asked as though there is reason for concern, but only by those unfamiliar with homeschooling and the supportive communities that exist. Join us for a discussion on socialization, where it occurs, and the unique benefits that homeschooling affords families.
We often hear that homeschooling is the perfect setting in which to truly individualize your child's education. To accomplish this, Cindy has found you must honor your child's learning style in regard to how they enjoy discovering and exploring a subject, as well as respecting the time frames in which they grasp and embrace each subject. She will share with you how her three oldest (now teenaged) children have learned subjects such as reading, writing, math, science, geography, foreign language, history, spelling, and others, using their own learning styles, following their own unique time frames, which formed their individualized education.
Is your family life the way you pictured it? Or is there more yelling, less listening, and not much fun? Homeschooling can put your parenting skills to the test. Assess what's working, what isn't, and what changes you want to make.
This session will demonstrate how you can use the Web to do more than "google" for information, and provide your child with chances to learn and apply thinking skills. Interactive projects that reveal the wider world to your child, or draw them into an in-depth investigation of a particular topic, are available for everyone to use. Several of these types of projects, often called Virtual Field Trips and WebQuests, will be shown. In this session, you'll also learn about how to find these for yourself and how to create your own webpage of links that will direct your child to where you want him or her to explore.
A panel discussion moderated by Linda Davies, with several speakers who will address traditional and non-traditional ways to prepare for the future. Whether the future is college, tech school, Peace Corps, military - consider ideas to best prepare for the various opportunities and how to explore the various options. Other panelists: Emily Wilson and Mike Zannetti.
This session will address the many benefits that homeschooling cooperatives offer parents and students. We will look at several different paradigms for homeschooling co-ops, and discuss how to plan and implement each type. We will also discuss potential pitfalls to cooperative homeschool education, and strategies for avoiding and solving problems. This will be a very practical, nuts-and-bolts session that will offer participants concrete plans for creating a homeschooling co-op in their community.
Explore how parents can achieve personal fulfillment through homeschooling. Consider the value of your work, the social wealth you create, the benefits of "professional development," and your road to personal growth. Assess your role as a homeschooling parent not just as a benefit to your children, but to your self and your community.
How can you teach subjects you don't know anything about? How will they be ready for the "real world"? How will they learn to interact with others? How will they deal with challenges in life? Objections to and questioning of homeschooling often come as surprises from people like the clerk at the post office, our best friend from college, the in-laws, or guests at a party. How can we effectively respond when someone challenges homeschooling? Explore possible answers to the most common objections in this panel discussion with Gail Barker, Stephanie Elms, Alicia Knight, Celeste Land, and Shay Seaborne.
Are you afraid of ruining your child if you try to homeschool someone with special needs? How can you homeschool a child who cannot stay focused? Homeschooling mom and teacher Kathy Kuhl discusses the decision to homeschool, preparation, testing, resources, and mistakes to avoid as you homeschool your special child.
Issues, questions, challenges and strategies for running a business while homeschooling: imagination versus reality; understanding your motives; from the kid's perspective; profit, break-even and loss (oh my); expectations; the perks; the problems. An interactive session with a homeschooling mom who has run a home-based business since 1992.
There is really nothing scary in the transcript preparation process! Come and learn about the three basic sections in a transcript, and how to collect and record information in a professional format. Whatever kind of homeschooling you've done, traditional or non-, you can create a transcript that accurately records your student's achievements. Remember, it's easier than you think!
Learn * Discover * Rejuvenate |
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At the Science Museum of Virginia |
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